Wicked Games
by thatwritersdream
Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is probably the most unluckiest Ladybug in history. She has a thing for blondes who were related, unknowingly to her. She graduated from one bully to another, all while trying to keep her shit together. Hell, she tried to open up to people to seemingly lose them. It all only gets worse, when a new villain arises around the same time Felix comes back.


**00| Au Revoir**

Marinette had has her fair share of the short end of the stick in life, but yet she had no room to complain. She was lucky enough to have her wonderful parents, who ran one of the most successful bakeries in Paris, and supported her with their very beings to go after her dream of being a designer. She loved them with every fiber she had, but they didn't know her life outside the bakery- only a part of it.

Growing up in the same classes with the same people, with Chloe Bourgeois in particular, had been what a living hell would have been like. Insult after insult like a never ending barrel on a gun left her lips daily, but over time the insults became less old and more of an annoyance. Yet that didn't stop the period when Marinette fell into a dark pit of her insecurities. Comments on her body at the age of eleven, or her hair and eyes brought the issues of insecurity, body image and a false sense of confidence Chloe had been able to see right through like a wolf on the hunt.

_"Maybe you should lay off the bread, Maritrash." Chloe would snicker, looking at her nails as if they were more interesting while smirking in her seat._

_"Pigtails? What are you, five?" Chloe would scoff, eyes burning with malicious intent. "Fix your hair, grade school."_

_"Oh, look at this Sabrina." Chloe sneering, ripping the page of the sketch book Marinette was working on. "Trash drawing trash. No one will wear this garbage of a dress you call fashion. Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous." _

Her grades had never slipped through those years, even when she had found it harder to sleep. Sometimes she would believe the words, find it a little harder to breath and wake up with energy. There was a time she didn't care if her smile seemed forced, but no one ever really looked her way too much anyways to notice. As long as she kept up making her other classmates smile, ignore Chloe and kept her head held high she'd be fine.

And she had been fine, for a little bit.

At the age of thirteen, Marinette had made her first encounter with Master Fu. She had been minding her own business walking to class one autumn morning as she looked around at the changing colors of the trees and all the beauty they held for some design inspiration when she made their first initial contact. Looking down to see who she ran into, Marinette nearly panicked seeing the small old man in a red Hawaiian print shirt on the floor and made to hastily help him up.

_"It's alright child, accidents happen after all."_

She had helped him cross the street, nearly having another panic fit realizing she was late and bid him a quick farewell and good day as she ran into the school. Later that week she had gained the responsibility as a miraculous holder that proved it's own difficulties throughout the years. Tikki had of course explained who she was, after Marinette had calmed down enough to put the flip-flop in hand down that she threatened to squash Tikki with.

Tikki was the kwami of creation, the second part of a balance with the Black Cat miraculous and kwami of destruction. She was tethered to Marinette spiritually, calling the young fashion designer her true chosen.

_"A chosen can be picked as the Guardian deems fit, and that chosen can be easily replaced if needed. A true chosen is very rare, especially with the Ladybug miraculous and Black Cat miraculous." Tikki had explained, smiling widely at Marinette._

_"What does it mean to be a true chosen though?" Marinette questioned, a frown on her lips as she took in the new information as best as she could in the moment._

_Tikki had no issue providing information, "A true chosen is when a kwami and a human resonate with each other's souls. In my whole existence as the kwami of creation, I've had three true chosen's, and you are my fourth. You are tethered to me, and I am too you. Anything you feel, I feel."_

_"That makes no sense, Tikki." Marinette muttered, not understanding._

_Tikki took a breath, trying to think of how to explain herself better. It took only a second before she perked up, as if a light bulb had gone off. "I guess what I told you were only attributes to our bond. A better way would to be that you are a humanized version of me. You were born to weld the miraculous of creation, to wear the earrings and answer the call of a hero if needed."_

_"And if that time never comes? Then what?" Marinette's frown never left her lips. _

_"Usually the miraculous's are active and in circulation when there's a threat, and right now there is none. The only concern is that two miraculous's are missing." Tikki informs Marinette, already feeling that it would take the girl sometime to adjust. "In this case, since you're a true chosen, I get to stay with you and you get to chose what we do next."_

_"What if I don't want this? Want you?" Marinette harshly asked, instantly feeling guilt when the red kwami shrunk slightly. _

_"You can take me back to Master Fu." Tikki answered softly, her blue eyes falling to the ground._

_Marinette's heart clenched in sadness and disappointment, and somehow she instantly knew that was Tikki. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all? Really, what else could Marinette ask for? Her friends were limited, her parents busy most days, so maybe having Tikki around wouldn't be a bad thing. It's just that she never really believed in fate, or magic, or fairy tails. It was like she was the protagonist in some magic girl show or something._

_"Tell me more about the miraculous, Tikki." Marinette says, smiling a genuine smile when Tikki nearly exploded in joy. "After all, we have a long life a head of us."_

Life after that day had changed significantly for Marinette, as if lucky was just pouring out of her. The reality was that the luck was seeping from Tikki, who sat in Marinette's purse when they left the safe confinements of her bedroom over the bakery. Tikki had even said it was fate because now her chosen had an endless supply of cookies, which was all Tikki really liked to eat.

Tikki had been caught up with Marinette's life track record, knowing who was who, and their relationships to her chosen. Some people she could sense familiarity in, some she approved and some she didn't. For example, she didn't care for the Chloe girl but knew that the girl was relative harmless without her silver tongue lashing words out.

For a while, everything was okay and seemed at peace. Having Tikki around to support her and cheer her on in her designs, even chastising her when to sleep and to take care of her wellbeing. It was a routine they fell into, Marinette and Tikki against the world, and over the months that world opened up and let Marinette out to venture.

Ladybug had made her appearance already without even knowing it, finding trust in her classmates since childhood. Nino, Nathaniel, Rose and Kim- they were aways her friends she never truly let in, and with some late night talks with Tikki being her drastically under paid therapist, she was convinced that she was lonely. That was why her life felt happier once she let people in.

Then she met him, Felix LaClaire- a boy a mere two years older than her with blue eyes more cold than the glaciers in Antarctica, when she was nearly fifteen. Felix was a serious and reserved guy, who preferred to keep to himself and was not openly friendly to anyone _ever_. The guys was the epitome of bad luck, with book shelfs falling on him or him slipping on the smallest thing. It was funny really, seeing the most reserved person also be clumsy.

In person, Marinette could never talk to him- not until they got put together on an usual assignment. Every few years Collège Françoise Dupont and Lycée got put together based on grades and interest, which is why Felix and Marinette being partnered was an absolute _question_. They were polar opposites, they didn't agree on any schemes or on anything at all.

In fact, the mere mention of Felix would cause Marinette to want to rip her pigtails out in frustration because Felix was not someone easy to get along with at _all. _Then there was a moment, a single moment that made them both look at each other in a different light and cause an unlikely friendship.

_"You're the only person I can tolerate, you know." Felix had stated, not looking up from his book that he read sitting in her living room while munching on some cookies her mother had brought up just for him. "The only friend I have besides my mother."_

_Marinette could only smile, ignoring the butterflies that stirred in her stomach. A foreign feeling she never had before, and yet chose to not address in the moment. "Lucky you then."_

_"Perhaps you're the lucky one." Felix's lips twisted into a smirk, looking at Marinette from over the book. "The lucky charm that cancels out my bad luck, or maybe my bad luck rubbed off on you and now you're stuck with me. Misfortunate really."_

_Marinette only rolled her eyes, going back to her sketching with a huff. "I'd like to think that I'm you're lucky charm. Thank you very much."_

Six months later was the emergence of Chat Noir, a teenaged boy in a clad leather suit running the rooftops of Paris with unkept hair that flapped in the wind wildly. Two cat ears poking through his messy blond locks and green eyes wild with liberation. Excitement was felt through the screen for anyone who watched that day.

_"Tikki, can you tell me more about Chat Noir and the black cat miraculous?" Marinette inquires, looking away from the screen on the tv and at the red kwami- who stared at the television with a soft frown._

_"The black cat miraculous is the other half to Ladybug, her balance and anchor. One cannot exist without the other." Tikki says, scrutinizing the black cat on the tv screen._

_"Which means I'm stuck with him?" Marinette asks, unsure if that was a good question to even voice._

_Tikki, who had lived through this conversation a few times, could only hope Marinette wouldn't react rashly. The fifteen year old didn't like choices to be made for her, so this would be a blow. __Saddled__ up and ready to rip the band aid off, Tikki nodded._

_"If a true chosen for Ladybug is born, a true chosen for Chat Noir is born as well. One cannot exist without the other, two halves that make a whole. Regular holders can walk away, they can fall in love with whoever, and same for true holders."_

_"I sense a but." Marinette sighed. _

_"True Ladybugs and Chat Noirs are meant to be, like soulmates. If they can accept each other in that way, to become one and balance each other, then they can become an unstoppable force. If true holders refuse the other, which is rare but happened once, and chose to love someone else- both holders become miserable."_

_Marinette couldn't help but wonder what happened in this story since the stress and grief flooded her senses that let her know how Tikki was feeling. What had been so bad when this pair rejected the other, refusing to follow their fate? So she asked, and Tikki gave her sad eyes._

_"Chat Noir of that time was in love with another girl, and chose to go after her despite Plagg's warnings. The Ladybug of that time, understanding what would happen but having a desire to see him happy, let him go to marry another. Since he defied the rules of fate, the natural order of the miraculous of creation and miraculous of destruction- his price to pay was his lover's life. Ladybug's price to pay was to inherit Chat Noir's bad luck, over riding her own good luck and losing her life in an unlucky accident as an civilian."_

_Marinette could only whistle, nodding her head and accepting what Tikki was telling her. Disrupting the balance would do no one any good, and now she felt anxious. Tikki, feeling her chosen getting stressed had flown to her and kissed her forehead. There was no reason to worry, not yet anyways. _

_"That Chat Noir is not the true chosen for Plagg and the black cat miraculous, Marinette." Tikki tells her gently, floating back to look. "It only worried me that Master Fu chose a temporary holder."_

_"Is that a bad thing?"  
_

_Tikki sighed, "Since the black cat miraculous is one of the most dangerous, it's the one that has the most consequence. Any holders or chosen that is not the true holder for it are cursed once they put the ring on."_

_"Cursed?" Marinette repeated, making sure she heard that right. _

_" The ring of the miraculous for destruction cannot come off of temporary holders at anytime unless they get a kiss from the Ladybug miraculous holder. In addition to that, while the temporary holder of the black cat miraculous wears the ring, they are cursed to have bad luck."_

_"So I'll have to kiss him at some point?" _

_Tikki nodded, "If he'd like to be free, yes."_

It was two weeks later that Hawkmoth had been introduced to the world, when the realization that both the Ladybug miraculous and Black Cat miraculous were in a current cycle. The first akuma was handled with clumsy inexperienced hands, but was defeated with a newfound ease. It was unclear who the person behind the akumas were for the two heroes, but that the person wanted both of their miraculous, which could never happen.

As time went on the battles with akumas became more easily handled, and within a few months they fell into a good duo that worked. Somehow they made it work, despite Chat's flirting comments- but he always somehow managed to stay focus in battle. Never once had he been distracted, only when Ladybug missed things he saw and he did his very best to never let any harm come to her.

For three years they worked along side with each other, as friends and partners. Both understood the importance of keeping their identities a secret, thanks to Tikki's and Plagg's advisement. Tikki had let Marinette know that this Chat Noir could never know her identity, because this Chat was not the true Chat nor true partner for her. This arrangement was temporary, and would eventually come to an end.

And it did, abruptly.

_"What's wrong Chaton?" Ladybug asked, sitting on the railing besides Chat Noir- who looked over the city lights with a distant look. _

_The look briefly reminded Marinette of the same look in Felix's eyes the past week, but she knew better than to pry and ask. Even if they were friends, Felix liked his privacy and if something was truly bothering him then he would speak about whatever was on his mind. Yet seeing the same look on her partner's face, Ladybug couldn't help but pry. _

_"There is some things going on in my civilian life that I can't ignore any longer." Chat Noir spoke uncharacteristically soft, his eyes still looking over the city with a distant longing. "I won't going into detail, but today it has been decided I will be leaving Paris."_

_Her eyes widen, the blood in her veins turning icy cold as she lost the air in her lungs as if she had been punched._

_"I cannot continue to be Chat Noir if I am no longer in Paris, M'lady." He turned to look at her with a sad smile. "We knew the time would eventually come, but I am formally requesting to e relieved of my duty. Plagg already explained a new holder will be chosen to work along side of you."_

_"Chaton." Ladybug whispered, her gloved spandex hand slowly reaching out to cup his face._

_Chat Noir watched as Ladybug looked over every single inch of his face, as if she were taking it to memory. God knows he was taking in every single inch of her face, cementing it to his memory. Her blue eyes, the way they shinned in the moonlight with worry and sadness. The slightly chapped lips due to cold weather to the little baby hairs the stuck out of place._

_"I can't tell you know if this is what you want." She rubbed her thumb gently along his cheek bones. _

_"I love you." He spoke it so softly, but he could see the heartbreak in her eyes like a mirror to his own._

_Yet she said nothing in response, leaning softly into his personal space as her hand closed over his. Specifically his ring. Ladybug could feel the blood rushing to her ears as her blush made is daily appearance. She could hear her heartbeat as it frantically thumped in her chest. Not even a few seconds later did her lips press against his in a soft, gentle kiss. She melted into the kiss as Chat Noir deepened it, not thinking twice as she moved to slip the ring off._

_As she slipped the ring off, Marinette kept her eyes screwed shut under her mask and ignored the flash of green that washed against her skin with a familiar magical tingle. Her mind was racing, his lips were surprisingly soft, and her heart was racing inside her chest. The warm metal of the miraculous he wore was pressed into her palm as her hand curled to secure it, and for a moment time seemed to freeze as his leather gloved hands on her cheeks turned into warm flesh against her own._

_"Open you're eyes, M'lady." His voice was familiar to her ears, and for a single fleeting moment she felt apprehension to see his face outside the mask. "Please."_

_She couldn't deny his request, just like she couldn't deny his request for freedom from the ring. Slowly and hesitating, Marinette opened her blue belled eyes to meet a pair of blue grey that looked at her with pure adoration and gratitude. A pair of blue grey eyes that would never look at the real her with those eyes. _

_Felix LaClaire stood before her, hands still cupping her face as he looked her in the eyes. He searched for something, unsure what it was himself. Yet he seemed to give up, and Marinette knew it was the magic of Tikki that kept her identity a secret. An identity she needed to keep now more than ever, and yet she couldn't help the small whisper of his name. _

_"Felix." _

_His eyes widened ever slow slightly, but she could already tell his walls were down around her- Ladybug, in a way they would never be with Marinette. For like the rest of Paris, Felix was in love with Ladybug. He loved the mask, and if he knew who she was under it? Marinette couldn't bare to disappoint him._

_"You know me?" Felix asked, and then chuckled to himself. "Of course you do, that's why you said my name."_

_She couldn't help the small saddened smile that curved her lips, seeing him at complete ease. Over the past year and a half they had been friends as civilians, and partners fighting crime, she knew this was a rare side for his civilian self. He was never truly open, never truly obtainable and now here he was in her grasp. Confessing his love for her and she could not grasp it. It was not hers to have and hers was not for him to ever reach. _

_Even if Felix LaClaire had Marinette's heart, he could never want it or have Ladybug's._

_"I need to go." Ladybug says as she stands up , praying to hold the crack in her voice together as reached for her yoyo, but Felix grabbed her hand. _

_"Please." Felix whispered, and for the first time she heard his voice crack. "I need to know who you are at least."_

_In the back of her head she felt Tikki bristle, reminding her that she couldn't share that information with him. Even if she wished deep down that she could give him the answers he sought for, she wouldn't though. She could never tell him who she was, and the reality was that she never planned on it. As tempting as it was, it was not Marinette he wanted._

_"I'm sorry, but I can't share that with you." Ladybug tells him softly, grabbing his hand and pulling him down to kiss his cheek. " My identity can't be compromised, and you are no longer Chat Noir. No one will never know you were Chat Noir."_

_"M'lady." Felix's voice sounded desperate, and it broke her heart. _

_"I understand that something must be happening in your civilian life for you to make the choice to relinquish your miraculous, and I hope everything works out for you in the end. Everything will work out." Ladybug gave his hand one more small squeeze, bowing and placing a kiss in his knuckle. "__Au revoir, kitty."_

_With a quickness Felix couldn't match, Ladybug let his hand go and threw her yoyo in a quick haste. Swinging away from Felix on the rooftop of Le Grand Paris, Marinette ran along the rooftops as Ladybug away from Felix- leaving her heart in his hands. The further she got, the more her eyes stung with tears that ran freely down her cheeks by the time she untransformed in her room. Tikki had wasted no time nuzzling her chosen, cooing at her to sooth the heartache that threatened her being. _

For a few months, the now sixteen year old Ladybug had faced akumas alone. There was a noticeable change in both the heroine and the girl under the mask. Where Ladybug used to be lightly serious, rolling her eyes and smiling at Chat Noir she now smiled less and was all about business. When Paris questioned where Chat Noir was, as worried and fear hit that something may have happened to the cat themed hero, she was the one that had to clean that mess. It was Ladybug who had to practice a perfect fake smile as she reassured that Chat Noir was okay, that she could not go into the specifics but for now she would be the one protecting Paris.

On the other hand, Marinette had slowly sunk back into her shell and Tikki was forced to watched. That night she had found out Felix was Chat Noir was the last night she saw Felix. He never showed up to school the next day, never said a goodbye. He was just gone, and it _hurt_ so much more than she ever thought it would.

Felix had undoubtedly become such a big part in Marinette's life, being an unusual friend to be and a partner she never knew she had for three years. He was her best friend, and secretly she knew she liked him more but Felix was not that type of person. He didn't openly show emotions. Yet it didn't erase the memories of Felix coming over, of all the family dinners and movie nights he joined. It didn't erase his existence from her mind and she wished she could just forget, because maybe then this pain in her chest wouldn't be so painfully tight.

Only time waits for no one, the days came and went and slowly Marinette became numb to it. She ignored Chloe's ever present insults, she ignored the dull ache of hope when she'd see messy blonde hair. Her designs became more elaborate as she stayed in her room to sketch away, leaving only on three occasions- to help her parents in the bakery, school and for akumas. Tikki knew that Marinette needed time, but she worried at how lonely her chosen was.

It was that school year, age sixteen, when Marinette met Alya Césaire- an inspiring reporter who help no shy bone and spoke her mind. A girl who quickly took place as Marinette's best friend and slowly brought the raven haired girl out of her shell again. Yet that was also the year she met Adrien Agreste, son to her favorite fashion designer.

Seeing his blonde hair and green eyes brought that dull ache back, making her secretly wish it was the blue grey she had come to favor as her favorite color. Unfairly she knew that the whole gum incident on her seat was not his fault, that it was Chloe's schemes but the months of bottling it up and with a lack of control she couldn't help but to glare at him and say nothing. She couldn't help but be unfairly mad that his eyes were green, that he looked so infuriating similar to _him_ and that he was nice.

What had she done to be put into this situation? Was she so unlucky that Tikki's luck rubbed off or was it the curse of the Black Cat miraculous still effecting her even though she had given it back to master Fu months prior? All she wanted was to be happy, but she didn't get that. Marinette knew it was selfish, she had a happy home after all with an amazing family and she was blessed with Tikki and being Ladybug. And maybe that's were her frustration really laid.

Everyone loved Ladybug.

No one really bothered with Marinette.

Felix said goodbye to Ladybug with an _I love you_, and Marinette was ignored and left to wonder whatever happened to Felix LaClaire. Maybe she was mad, because she had been there for him and welcomed him into her home. All the nights he called her, the strain in his voice as a silent plea for her help to escape that home life he never cared to talk about, she had opened the doors for him.

She never expected a thank you, no but maybe a goodbye at least.

That day though, it had rained and when Marinette stood at the entrance of the school looking out onto the water hitting the floor in her own mind, Adrien Agreste had surprised her.

_Standing there looking at the rain falling from the dark skies above, Marinette couldn't help but wonder if it was raining where Felix was. Was he under the same sky or was he looking up at the moon as he read another book by a window with a cup of chamomile tea on standby waiting to be sipped? Why was it now, at the end of summer and fall did she think so much of him? Was it the reminder Adrien Agreste gave or was it because fall was Felix's favorite season?_

_She didn't know the answers, and for once she didn't want to find the reason why. She wanted to remain blissfully unaware why her thoughts were drawn to Felix, because then maybe eventually she would stop. Stop and forget all together._

_"Hey." Came the unsure voice of Adrien Agreste, who stood next to her now with an awkwardness in his eyes._

_She couldn't help but make a 'hmph' sound and turn her head away, knowing how cruel she was being and unfair given the kick Tikki gave into the side of her purse. _

_She missed the way Adrien's green eyes dropped to the wet pavement in disappointment. Missed just how hard it was for him to open up to people and make friends. He wasn't sure what to do, even though Nino gave him advice. Adrien never had someone but his father mad with him before, so what was he to do to get a girl to listen to him?_

_" I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat." He walked two steps forward, umbrella in hand pushed to open up to block the rain from his head. This little actions, and a it startled from sudden words, caused Marinette to look up at him fully. "I swear. I've never been to school before. I've never had friends, it's all sort of new to me."_

_It was then when Adrien Agreste looked over his shoulder back At Marinette Dupain-Cheng with a small unsure smile, umbrella open as the rain fell down around them in a beautiful even rhythm that something changed as he turned offered her the umbrella. Blue belled eyes met green, a soft shade of pink hued on her cheeks, and for one moment her mind went blank._

_Adrien Agreste had unknowing turned off her inner ramblings, calmed the storm that raged in her head for months with that single movement. Yes she had been unfair, and yes she would give this boy a chance because she understood wanting to make friends, to belong and to have a place to stay. She understood that so much, because she had it once. _

_Swallowing that fear for the second time today, the same that came with Alya and letting people in, Marinette took the umbrella from the blonde in front of her that looked at her with such hopeful and innocent eyes that she couldn't help but let the walls around her let down slightly. The moment was ruined when the umbrella decided to close around her, with her embarrassingly bad luck she seemed to have inherited recently._

_Then she heard a beautiful sound, the sound of his laughter that bubbled through him joyfully. It warmed her heart, hearing what he just confessed and being the cause of his laughter. It warmed her so much that she knew her cheeks were burning that shade of red that stay for a moment longer than it should. And for the first time she couldn't help but laugh herself, a laugh she hadn't used or felt in months. _

_"See you tomorrow." Adrien says, smiling once more as he walked away. _

_It had left Marinette looking forward to the next day for once in a long time, because now she had two new friends. Tikki was giggly herself feeling the joy Marinette had felt, poking her head out of the purse and smiling really big. _

_"Time heals Marinette, one step and a time." Tikki says, earning a loving smile from her chosen._

_"Lets get home Tikki." _

The events following after the first day of school were eventful, to say the least. The first thing was that Marinette discovered that Alya had started a blog called the Ladyblog to report of Paris's superhero. She knew that Alya wanted to e a reporter and before moving to Paris there had been no heroes were she previously lived. Now in the heart of Paris, were akumas were becoming more active thanks to the Chloe _again_, Alya was running around filming battles and stressing Ladybug out unknowingly.

Then she was blinded sided by reemergence of the Black Cat miraculous. All the emotions that hit her seeing him, it had been an opportunity for Hawkmoth. For anyone really because for the first time Ladybug had _hesitated_.

_Determination burned in her blue bell eyes as she scanned over the area around her trying to piece the puzzle of what to do next with the akuma. The akuma known as Jail-Breaker, a teenager angry for the arrest of their father that was falsely accused by Chloe, was a bit more powerful than Ladybug would like to admit. Now adding the destruction of Paris, Alya running somewhere around and the higher chances of civilians getting injured only pressed the stress on. _

_"Give me your miraculous, Ladybug!" Jail-Breaker yelled, lunging at her but she was quicker with wrapper her yo-yo around a light pole and swinging away in order to think of a plan. The akuma was in the locket around the neck, a personal item most likely given by the father in said police custody. _

_Only she didn't land on light pole like she had expected, but instead she literally crashed into a body in midair. In which caused her yo-yo to wrap around both of them and dangle them from a bo staff, a painfully familiar bo staff. _

_"Well hey there, nice of you to drop in." A new voice cheekily said._

_Ladybug had no choice but to look into the masked eyes of the new Black Cat holder, and the first thing she seen was blonde. Hope fluttered in her chest, but it died quickly seeing that his cat eyes were not a blue sclerae but a green sclerae. His blonde hair was not long and wild, yes untamed but short. His grin was not the same, this new Chat Noir was much livelier if that was possible. _

_Of course it came with the rush of the first transformation, the liberation of swinging or running along the roof tops. She shoved that pitiful disappointment down, feeling a difference with how her miraculous seemed to harmonize with his so much better this time around. A difference that seemed to be good in this sense. _

_"You must be the partner my kwami told me about." He says as she released them from the string of her yo-yo. "I'm- hmmm, Chat Noir." _

_There was no other name he could go by, because Marinette understood the reason why she seemed to harmonize with his miraculous so quickly. She could feel the pleased hum from Tikki, and that left little doubt that this boy in front of her was the true holder for the Black Cat Miraculous. _

_The true Chat Noir who deserved the name. _

_Her heart twisted a little bit, but she smiled softly so entranced with this newcomer and in her thoughts that she didn't even register that Chat Noir's eyes widened and then he was lunging at her and suddenly the air was knocked from her lungs. Her mind snapped back into place as she looked into her new partners worried eyes. _

_"Is everything okay?" He asked, getting off when she coughed._

_She got up to her feet, eyes shifting the frustrated akuma. " You reminded me of someone I once knew was all, caught me off guard." She offered a smiled and offered a simple introduction. "Ladybug. Come on, let's defeat your first akuma, it's in the locket. I'm assuming that Plagg told you how your powers work?"_

_He looked embarrassed brassed as he scratched the back of his neck, "I kinda got excited and didn't let him finish."_

_"Cataclysm gives you the ability to destroy what you touch, so be careful." Ladybug tells him. "After you have five minutes before you transform back, now lets do this."_

_The battle was a little more longer and difficult than Ladybug would have really liked but she knew it came with being new. Chat Noir was lively, almost like a little kid amazed at his powers and excited. He didn't understand what was in store with the miraculous, and really how could he? It was every dream every kid had about being a superhero, and to live the experience was like a dream come true for some._

_Yet she had been Ladybug for three years, she knew her responsibilities and how to balance it out. She knew how to keep the stress at easy and to keep her head on her shoulders. She learned, grew with experience that came with time. Yet when she bid Chat Noir a farewell for the night, he had surprised her._

_"Don't you want to know who I am?" He asks her, hesitant. _

_There was no doubt in her head that he knew of her pervious partner, not the whole story it enough to e unsure on her relationship to the pervious Black Cat holder. Curiosity wasn't a thing for her in the moment, having no real urge to know who was under the mask th__is time. She didn't want to know._

_"No." Her voice soft, almost a whisper he couldn't catch. For a moment, a single moment Chat Noir watched as her blue belled eyes got distant and he regretted asking. Yet it was over just as fast as it happened, with Ladybug giving a soft shake of her head to snap out of it. "We can't know our identities. Being compromised by Hawkmoth is too high, and it puts us as risk if we are affected by an akuma and put our families in danger if we are found out." _

It was that night when she returned home that Marinette dropped her transformation and sat on her bed, lost in thought. She was scared, of what she didn't really know. Of being left behind again? Of opening her heart? Of being hurt? It was life, being human was not always fun and games. People love, they hurt, they cry and they fall then get back up.

She had to get back up, for real this time.

"Marinette?" Tikki softly called, floating in front of her chosen.

"I'm okay." Marinette promised softly, smiling small. "It's time for a change, and to take a chance so let's make this school year the best we can make it."

Tikki could only beam at her chosen proudly.

* * *

**This is a rewrite of my original version, Egotistical. I wanted something a little more angsty and drama, and rereading the first one I had made me not like it so much. I hope you all enjoy this story! Let me know if I should continue with this story if it's interesting enough haha.**

**Chapter song: Wicked Games by Ursine Vulpine ft. Annaca**

**Please review feed back :)**


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